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Probably has something to do with much of the tech scene leaning left politically, so more lax homeless restrictions.

In the end, it doesn't solve the root cause of homelessness (probably makes the situation worse locally since it attracts homeless from elsewhere), but it's not like anyone in the US has some serious plans to tackle the issue at scale.

I don't know, but San Francisco, Seattle, and Austin are all pretty similar politically, falling to the left of the democratic mainstream. I don't think that's a new development since they became tech hotspots.

As for whether it's compassionate, I'd just note that at the extreme, compassion stops being a virtue.

I'm not sure about the "tech hotspot" angle, but https://www.econlib.org/homeless-camping-in-austin-a-modest-... while somewhat satirical may well have a point about the "why"...